Rotorua

Finally im back into travelling, and this time, i've decided to head to Rotorua to see some volcanic and thermal activities. Took the Intercity again, which only cost me NZD35 from Manukau City to Rotorua. This is the non-refundable tickets, hence, the price. It tooks about 4 hours to get here, and man, it does smells bad here. Rotten eggs smells of sulphur fills the air of Rotorua. It was kinda spectacular to see steams coming out from the ground and water surface as the water/mud is practically boiling!

Managed to get my accomodation in Cactus Jack Backpackers @ 20NZD per night.. Not a very good backpackers place, with things pretty old and i dont feel secure here with my stuffs. Although Dan, the owner's son was pretty helpful with stuff and getting good deals. Anyway, this was one of the cheapest one, so, you decide! :P

Here's the Rotorua Museum @ Government Garden.

Didnt do much on the first few days.. hanging around the lake and some short trails in the city.. it was not a beautiful sights along the trails i can say :( Decided to visit Wai-O-Tapu and Waimangu Thermal Valley as planned, but the transport there is pretty expensive!! Got a deal of 110NZD for the shutter bus and entry tickets to both places. Not cheap but, i'm here already.. and not coming to Rotorua AGAIN!

First of all, the 'largest' mud pool in NZ is pretty disappointing.. small, and lack to bubbling actions.

And then we went to watch the Lady Knox Geyser, which is another sad case where it's not a natural erupting geyser i should say.. at the beginning, everyone was wondering, how can it erupt at precisely 10.15am each day? Well.. soon after we find our place to sit, one old man came, talk about some history of the geyser and then,... he added something to trigger the Geyser eruption! DUHHH!!

and we move on to the main entrance of Wai-O-Tapu where we have quite a limited time to visit the whole area, which makes it pretty tiring and unpleasant..

This is the famous Champagne Pool of Wai-O-Tapu

same goes to Waimangu Volcanic Valley, and the rain just makes it worst! It's been raining almost everyday in Rotorua for the whole week im there.. it's just sad sad thing..

The room i've stayed in was also pretty boring, as there is nobody in it except for a french guy. However, on the third day, it was a good day.. the room is filled with new friends from all over the world. I met a French girl, Caroline and we explore Rotorua for the next few days, mainly walking and hiking along the beautiful Red Wood forest and Mount Ngongataha. It was free, so, it's good.. both of us are pretty much on a tight budget and all these places makes it possible for us to explore and spend the days. It was a nice walks through all the trails with her.. she's active in sports and pretty much travel all across the world.. I think im the oldest guy during this backpacking trip to NZ who travels the LEAST! Sobzz... Everyone i met and talk to have a great experiences backpacking trip while me, i'm just started :P

Anyway, here's some photos from the walks along the Red Wood Forest